(Note: This is a continuation of another post I made yesterday about the RLV Summit [1] that also occurred in Colorado last week. Be sure to check that out... and don't miss my quick post about Armadillo Aerospace [2].)
This was meant to be another video blog, but it turns out that essentially none of the video I took in Colorado last week was usable. Between poor lighting, bad sound quality, and me sounding like a frog thanks to a bad cold, it wasn't anything I wanted to subject you to, dear readers. So, forgive me for the tardiness of this old fashioned text-based blog! It is a good incentive, though, to start thinking about picking up a real camcorder to do more video blogs. Anyone out there have any good recommendations?
Anyway, as the title of this post implies, I went out to the National Space Symposium [3] in Colorado Springs last week. Though it was the 24th time that conference had been held, it was actually my first time attending. For those of you who have never attended, it was quite a show! It's something that has to be seen to be believed, but I'll try my best to describe it here, for those of you who have never been able to attend--though I saw a few other bloggers out there (like Jeff Foust of Space Politics [4], Personal Spaceflight [5], et cetera), but haven't read any play-by-plays. This isn't really a play-by-play either, I suppose--but some insight is better than none (I hope!)
NSS, it turns out, is a show unlike any other. The sheer volume of the event is astounding. The week kicks off with an opening ceremony complete with a well known band (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy [6] - warning: link will resize your window) and fireworks. Unlike many other conferences, NSS has only a single track, with very high level panelists or speakers talking to an audience of thousands. The exhibit halls are enormous, and the displays glitzy and impressive, with swag galore. And, of course, the parties are spectacular and unbelievably numerous--I counted about 30 on Wednesday night alone, each with a theme and an open bar.
One reason I hadn't attended NSS in previous years was that I felt that as an X PRIZE employee, I operated in a different circle than that which you see on display at NSS. For years, it seems like alt.space and traditional space haven't mixed--or haven't mixed well. One side dismisses the other as a group of dinosaurs; looking back across the aisle, the other group sees insignificance, bravado, or petulance. Both groups are probably partly right and partly wrong, like in so many other things. But in recent times, that attitude seems to be changing. We see some key examples: Northrop Grumman [7]'s sponsorship of the Lunar Lander Challenge [8]; Northrop's acquisition of Scaled Composites [9]; Raytheon [10]'s role on team Astrobotic [11]; Lockheed Martin's partnership [12] with Spaceport America [13] and ; et cetera. This year seemed like as good a time as any to go and actively engage the traditional aerospace community, and to see how X PRIZE can further help bridge that gap between the two factions.
Overall, I was quite pleased with what I found. We weren't the only ones represented there--Google Lunar X PRIZE teams Astrobotic [14], LunaTrex [15], and Odyssey Moon [16] were all represented there, as well as other new space players like SpaceX [17] and XCOR [18].
Like so many other good conference, NSS is all about the side meetings. It was strange to realize that I spent half of my time in meetings with other people based in DC, but that's how these things work. In any case, it was a productive event.
But most pleasing of all was the general attitude I heard towards prizes in general, the X PRIZE Cup [19], and the Google Lunar X PRIZE [20]. Big aerospace is starting to learn about these kind of efforts, and to embrace them--both at a personal level and at a corporate level. It's personally reaffirming to hear people talk glowing about those projects, sure; but much more importantly, it's a good sign for the greater aerospace community, I feel.
[21](From Left to Right) William Pomerantz, Nicole Jordan, and Bretton Alexander, all of the X PRIZE Foundation.
Photo Credit: N. Jordan, X PRIZE Foundation.
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]